How to Love with a Biomechanical Heart
by NightFayestorm
Summary: The Lone Wanderer makes her way across the Wasteland, only to meet a certain Security Chief with a gruff exterior but a heart of gold. FLW/Harkness
1. Arrival

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, Bethesda does. I'm just writing for fun.**

**A/N: I've made my character a little older than in the game: twenty-three. I felt like she needed more experience under her belt.**

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><p>The sound of lasers on metal echoing across the river catches his attention. He hears the crack of a hunting rifle moments before a slight figure dashes to the top of the coast-side landing. She drops the rifle behind her in favor of a combat shotgun, shooting the face of a heavily armed and armored man chasing her up the stairs. A spray of blood flies through the air, painting the stairwell. She grabs something else from her pack, some kind of chem, and stabs it into her leg, before another soldier rounds up the stairs.<p>

She's ducked behind some old lockers, but the mercenary is not afraid. Chief recognizes that uniform—that's Talon Company, rotten bastards who'll kill anything to make a cap. Can't have them anywhere near the boat. Harkness readies his rifle and takes aim. The woman across the way doesn't look to be in good shape, her arm looks lame. He takes the shot, nicking the merc's arm, distracting him. Bullets bounce off the exterior wall of the boat as the merc decides to clear out what he perceives to be the greater threat—the Security Chief guarding this hunk of metal.

The woman takes aim with her rifle again, a bullet slicing right through the base of the soldier's skull and severing his spinal cord. The accuracy of his death is glorious. But she's too distracted to notice a third merc who shoots her in the back with a laser rifle. She falls down hard and scrambles to aim, but shooting with the rifle at this close of range is difficult. The merc stands over her, gloating in his victory, while Harkness lines up another shot. Takes his head clean off.

The woman looks over suddenly, her eyes perceiving her far-away savior. She makes a feeble attempt at a wave before rolling onto her stomach (despite the pain) and staying there. Harkness considers moving the bridge across but he needs to check the area first. He scans the area with binoculars—no more tangos in sight. He looks back to see the woman pulling herself up against the lockers and reaching for the intercom. He _has_ to let her across now, it's the rule.

She slowly creeps across the bridge and he sticks to the safety of the boat-side landing until she is within earshot. Stepping up to the edge of the bridge he calls across, demanding who she is and why she is there. She immediately drops to her knees, looking beaten.

"Can you just fucking _help me_? Can't you see I'm _dying_?"

"I repeat, who are you and what business do you have in Rivet City?"

She sighs and wipes her bloody hands through her auburn hair. "Fuck. You. I'm looking for my father, he came to see Dr. Li."

"And you would be…"

"Asha. James' daughter. Perhaps you've _heard of_ him?"

_The older scientist who showed up a few weeks ago… _"James…" he trails off. "Dr. Li isn't here right now, I'm afraid you'll have to turn back."

She glances back behind her. "Really, you're sending me back out there to _die_? You realize I just had to fight super mutants _and_ Talon Company?"

_She has a point. _Harkness mulls this thought over for a moment before replying, "True, I guess you're doing something _right_ if Talon Company is on you." He steps onto the bridge to help her across. "Just keep your weapons holstered…" he now notices just _how_ heavily armed she is, "and we'll get along just fine. I'll take you to the infirmary." Her blood gets on his uniform as he throws her arm around his shoulders. _Shit, I just cleaned this one too. Fucking Wastelanders._


	2. Sister

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, Bethesda does. I'm just writing for fun.**

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><p>She hobbles along on a crutch, one arm precariously held in a sling. <em>Fucking doctor, doesn't he realize I don't have <em>_**time**__ to take "it" easy? Dad's out there somewhere and he __**needs**__ me. I'd have a good mind just to shoot up and get off this tub, but it's still going to be a while till Dr. Li gets back._ Vera stands at the main desk to the Weatherly Hotel and Asha gives her money for a few days' rental before locking herself away in the room.

There's something so familiar about being trapped on a ship, the metal walls and artificial lighting…but the lights here are more green-toned, it's a bit unsettling. And it's not as warm; it feels like there is always a draft. She drops her pistol on the small table before plopping onto the bed, groaning in pain when she drops too quickly. She pops a pill without water and the pain melts away as her eyes drift closed.

She wakes to what sounds like a fight going on down the hall. She grabs her .44 and rushes out, ignoring her crutch in favor of a heavy limp. Sister has picked a fight with one of the security guards in his drunken state. Seems like he's always drunk. The security guard calls for backup over the intercom when Asha limps up, gun cocked and held fast in her hand. Sister's a slaver, and she doesn't put up with that shit. He's got his knife against the officer's throat, and her hand idles on her sidearm.

"Stand down, Sister."

"Oh, what, the little Vault Dweller has come to boss me around? Fuck off, kid."

"Kid? I said stand down."

"Now, I was just havin' myself a nice little conversation with Officer Steele here about a missing android. I'm convinced she knows something, but she ain't sayin'. What she knows, I need to know. I aim to find that android and finally get paid for my work."

"Put the knife down and we can all talk," Asha tries diplomatically. Steele holds her SMG at the ready. Sister would be easy to put down in this state, but avoiding bloodshed would make this day go a _little_ better. "What android are you talking about?"

"Commonwealth lost one of their precious androids and I was bein' paid to bring it back."

"What would a Commonwealth android be doing _here_?"

"Fuck if I know. They said it was probably hiding, got a memory wipe and a face change so they couldn't find it easily."

Harkness appears silently in the doorway, gun in hand.

"And just what information do you have on it?"

"A tape's been going around. You should give it a listen sometime."

"Well, I am much obliged for your…cooperation, Sister," Asha says slowly, before suddenly hitting him across the face with her gun. He falls to the floor, bloody and writhing. "I'm sure Steele won't mind putting you in lockup for a spell for threatening her life." She kicks the knife out of his hand before holstering her own weapon.

Harkness has been watching with intrigue at the boldness of this new woman. He thought someone from a vault would be more…timid, even afraid of her own shadow, but this woman had a confidence and courage that he rarely sees in the Wasteland. He doesn't trust her.

"Harkness." She nods at him on her way out the door.

"_Wait_, Asha, what makes you think you can come in here and get involved in _security affairs_? You're not even a resident of this city." He asks pointedly.

"I heard trouble, thought I'd help."

"So that's what you do, wander around the Wasteland looking for trouble and ways to help?"

She looks to the side and thinks briefly. "Yeah, that would be a pretty good summary." She steps past him and returns to her hotel room.

Harkness follows her. "And you just do this out of the goodness of your own heart?"

"Well, money is nice too, but yeah, people shouldn't have to suffer."

"So you think you're a hero."

"I didn't say that."

"You know the problem with heroes? They get cocky and then think _they_ are above the rules, damn anyone that gets in their way. They end up causing more problems than they fix."

"And you know this firsthand, do you?"

"I've seen it happen. I fought in the _War_ you know."

She swiftly raises her eyebrows. "_The War_? You don't exactly _look_ like a ghoul…shouldn't you be dead or something?"

"They put me in cryogenic stasis after Alaska…coming home was hard, and defeat was even worse."

"And then you just…unfroze?"

He pauses, puzzled, unable to recall exactly how he returned to the land of the living. "Something like that," he mutters with a wave of his hand. "Never mind, good night Asha. Try not to get involved in any more security affairs; you aren't above the law yourself."

"Never said I was," she calls down the hallway after him.

He shakes his head. _They always start out the same_.


	3. Heroes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, Bethesda does. I'm just writing for fun.**

**A/N: This chapter includes an attempted rape scene. If you are sensitive, you can scroll to the bottom for a chapter summary.**

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><p>Asha learns the Chief's daily routine so she can avoid him in the halls. He always looks at her suspiciously; she knows he doesn't trust her do-gooder reputation. At night he's always the same, dinner at Gary's Galley, followed by a two-hour watch at the Muddy Rudder to make sure the drunks don't get out of hand (they always do). She figures she's safe when she breaks into Sister's room that night. Sister would be drinking at the hotel for a few hours and Harkness was on the bottom level, as per routine. She never trusts a slaver and wants to know why the bastard is on this boat (and not leaving).<p>

She slips in quietly and quickly searches the sparse room. Not much to find aside from a few paid contracts for bringing in slaves and a stray holotape. She pops it into her Pip-Boy and plays the audio. A new contract. The slavers are looking for that android. That much she already knew. What she didn't know is that the runner used to be a hunter, he'd chase other runners and bring them back. Seems he grew a conscience. For a brief moment, admiration passes through her mind, admiration of this android who stood up to his superiors for the moral right. It's quickly replaced by an urgency to find him (yes, him, the slavers didn't refer to the android as "it"), as well as a resolution to cripple the slavers.

She slips out of the room and locks the door, turning to run nose-to-chin into Harkness. "Breaking and entering now, hm? What'd you steal?" he asks shortly.

She glances at him sidelong. He should understand, security guards are supposed to be on the moral right, yes? "Information."

"What _sort_ of information?"

"The slavers are after the rogue android. He realized his conscience and left, he was nothing but a slaver himself of other androids."

He scoffs. "A conscience? You believe that shit?" He notices her pulse quicken and her throat close up. "What the fuck is an android anyway?" he asks, already knowing the answer.

"A person. A person made synthetically, but a person nonetheless."

Her frankness and sincerity startles him. He stares at her, puzzled by this anomaly in front of him. This girl, _woman_, who grew up sheltered in a vault, surrounded by the same two hundred people for her entire life, suddenly thrust into the open, bleak world, strode with a moral confidence he did not often see. She _knew_ she was right and she was damn well going to prove it to the world. A moment of admiration passes through his mind, quickly replaced by his sense of duty.

"I should bring you in for theft…" She looks at him questioningly, as if doubting the sincerity of his words. "But I won't. You're doing the right thing…so far," he adds hastily. "But I got my eye on you."

"Well don't wait up, I'm heading out in the morning. I need to do something about those slavers."

He startles. _She can't possibly be thinking about taking on Paradise Falls, can she? That's suicide._ "Don't, you'll get yourself killed."

She frowns at his apparent ability to read her mind. "Fuck if I'm going to sit here while _innocent people_ are being _hunted_."

His mouth drops open and then claps shut. "Good luck," he finishes slowly.

"Thanks, I'll need it," she mumbles as she strides past him, back to her room.

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><p>The trip to Paradise Falls is long and arduous. Some frantic kid finds her when she passes too close to Grayditch (a mistake given the overwhelming population of enormous fire-breathing ants). She promises to ask his aunt Vera if she has room for him when she returns to Rivet City. She promises the kid she'll be back for him. His eyes follow her with a deep sadness as she departs. She gets about half a mile away when she realizes she just <em>can't<em> leave that kid there by himself, not now. She returns to collect him and take him to Megaton for the time being. He can just stay in her house for now where he'll be safe.

She eventually reaches the slaver town. She pays off the guard at the front gate so she can go in and scope it out first. Nearly thirty slavers are at home, with some well-fortified defensive positions. She talks to the slaves in the holding pens at the back. They explain she needs to deactivate the collars so their heads don't explode when the slavers get pissed. Sounds like the first order of business.

Eulogy Jones is fucking one (or both?) of his women when she slips in to find the terminal. She's so quiet he doesn't even notice above his grunts of pleasure. _Sick bastard_.

That taken care of, she slips on a Stealth Boy and takes out the few slavers she can see from her position. At first they have no idea what's going, where those shots are coming from, and why their comrades are dropping like flies. They rally and pin down her location. Fuck. Her Stealth Boy wears off and she preps her shotgun for her rampage before she notices the gas tank in the middle of the town. Something has to keep those generators running. She says a quick prayer that she won't kill herself or the slaves and sends three well-placed grenades towards the tank. The resulting fireball is downright _impressive_. She fights her way through the town and disoriented slavers, saving Eulogy for last. She savors putting her pistol against his head and pulling the trigger, watching his brains splatter back against his heart-shaped sex bed littered with empty whisky bottles.

The danger cleared (for now) she escorts the slaves out, young and old, except for the crazy old man who doesn't understand that he's free. She hopes he figures it out eventually, she doesn't have time to drag him out forcefully. Getting some distance from the partially destroyed town, they disperse to go their separate ways, heading to whatever homes they have left. Three brats express their gratefulness before heading back to Little Lamplight, saying they'll put in a good word, whatever the fuck that means.

She gets back to Megaton and people are clapping her on the back. The news made it to Three Dog, and now the entire Wasteland knows. The weight of all the killing hits her like a brick wall. Not guilt, exactly, they deserved what they got, just the enormity of the task and the resulting fervor that surrounds her. She didn't ask for this, she just did what was right.

She slinks off in the night back to Rivet City, arriving in the bright daylight. Reaching her room, she passes out exhausted from the trip, ready to sleep for days on end.

She doesn't even notice when a well-built man sneaks into her room at night while guard patrols are light.

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><p>She wakes to a blade pressed precariously close to the delicate flesh of her neck. "You fucked it up, you fucked it up real good," the voice hisses, quiet and low. "Now I'll never get the bounty." <em>Sister<em>. "I'll just take it out of you in kind." One hand scrambles for her pants, pajamas loosely drawn around her waist, while the other maintains a tight grip on the knife. She screams, but is quickly silenced when she feels the sharp edge of the blade draw lightly across her throat, splitting the skin ever so shallowly. She panics but can't fight back without getting killed.

Her pants are ripped off forcefully and she feels his weight settle between her legs, pushing her knees apart. She tries to push him away but he's just too heavy. He holds her back, stifling her screams with his large hand, as he primes himself.

She scrambles for something, anything to defend herself. She finds a boot. It's not heavy enough to hit him with, but she desperately throws it at the door, hoping she's lucky enough that someone will hear. Nobody responds. She tries to scream again, now that he's dropped the knife, but Sister's mouth is on her, stifling the noise as he bites down hard on her lip, drawing blood. He savors the taste.

"No one can hear you _little girl_, you're _mine_, and I'm going to take my time."

She scrambles for anything else to throw, finds the other boot and chucks it at the door before he can stop her. He quickly grabs both of her hands and thrusts them above her head, holding her arms taut. She feels him brush against her opening as he maneuvers into position with his free hand. She clenches at the feeling.

Finally there is a brief, polite knock before the door bursts open, the frame of a man dark against the bright light of the hallway. She looks at him, eyes bright with insane fear, her body exposed and vulnerable. Sister hasn't had time to take her, but he seems determined to no matter what.

Strong hands pull the beast off her and land a solid blow across his jaw. She pulls her tunic down past her hips and scrambles for a weapon. Sister spots her pistol on top of the dresser near the door and darts for it. The savior man grabs him from behind and they wrestle desperately in the middle of the room. She sees the gun get raised against a head, but in the dark she's not sure whose. The men are built similarly enough that they are indistinguishable in the dark.

The gun fires and there is a splatter of blood and brain-matter across the wall, bed, and Asha's body followed by a heavy thud. The figure approaches and she scrambles for the corner, gripping the knife Sister left in the bed.

"Stop." She knows that voice. It's not Sister. He flicks on the light, and she blinks back against the sudden blindness, struggling lightly as she feels warm hands on hers, gently pulling the knife away, before pulling her into an embrace. He cradles her head against his collarbone as she starts sobbing uncontrollably. "Did he hurt you? Did he…?" Harkness asks gently.

She shakes her head briefly. "Just fucking scared the shit out of me, that filthy _bastard_!" She glances down at his deformed body, a sudden wave of nausea washing over her. She pulls away and vomits violently on the ground, coughing and dry heaving. She feels the arms around her again, gently pulling her off the bed and out of the room. He grabs a clean pair of trousers from the room and pulls her into a corner so she can dress herself. He takes off his jacket and wraps it around her shivering shoulders.

"Come on, let's get you to the doc."

"It's the middle of the night."

"Doesn't matter, this is important." He puts his arm around her for balance as she shakily progresses down the hallway. Doc's quarters are not far away. Harkness demandingly pounds on his door until the sleepy and irritated doctor rises and they hear the click of the lock.

"What in the _fuck_ is wrong with you, boy?"

"She's been attacked," he says bluntly. "By Sister."

"I always knew that rat was trouble. He dead?" Harkness nods. "Good. Okay, let's go to the infirmary."

Asha glances at Harkness with fear in her eyes. She's hesitant to leave his side, lest something else happen. He glances at his watch and then decides to forgo sleep, putting his arm back around her to stay with her the rest of the night.

Doc patches her up and does a thorough examination for any latent injuries. She assures him Sister never got what he wanted, not really. "I _think_ I would have _noticed_." He gives her some meds to sleep and recommends she get some needed rest, someplace _safe_.

"Harkness, you need stitches on that cut," he indicates the large gash in his forehead.

"Do it later Doc, there are more important things right now."

Asha puts her hand on his arm with a slight squeeze. "Let him do it, we can't have our Chief of Security injured." He reluctantly agrees, but denies an anesthetic to keep his clarity of mind.

"Seriously now, get some rest," he orders the woman after finished up with the stitches.

"I can't go back, not to that room, not now," she says quietly to Harkness after Doc Preston leaves to return to his quarters.

"I wouldn't expect you to. Let's…let's go to mine." She glances at him suspiciously, taken aback by his offer. "I don't mean…it's just safe and comfortable. Locks are secure."

She nods. "You have _quarters_? I thought you slept in the guard barracks."

He glances at her sidelong, wondering how she knows his habits. "I do, I feel more comfortable there, always ready. But yes, I have quarters, they're…handy to have. The bed's clean and all my stuff is there."

He keeps his arm around her shoulders as they climb the stairs to the next level and walk slowly down the hallway. He notes that she keeps glancing behind her, jumping at every noise. He's never seen her like this. She's usually so fearless, confident in her own abilities. _Has Sister broken her? She's normally so strong, fearless; it's amazing really, given that she grew up in a hole in the ground. Maybe I was wrong, maybe she is a hero. Three Dog is calling her a Paragon, after all. Megaton, Paradise Falls, the list is growing. The least I can do is protect her. How many men would kill to be in my position? This beautiful angel of the Wasteland looking to me, of all the miserable men out there, for safety._ He pauses to look at her while he unlocks his door. _Beautiful? Yes, yes she is. Even when she has all her armor on, but especially without. God, why am I…_

"Can I…do you have a clean shirt I could borrow?" She pulls lightly at her own, pulling him out of his traitorous thoughts. He looks down and notices for the first time Sister's blood splattered across the side and her own blood staining the top.

"Oh, oh yeah of course." _Shit, why am I thinking about her like __**that **__at a time like __**this**__? _He rummages through drawers, looking for a dark shirt so she doesn't feel uncomfortable given that she's not wearing underclothes. "Uh, trousers…probably not the most comfortable thing either." He hands her a pair of his own drawstring pants. They are far too large, but cinch up comfortably around her waist. He turns around to give her privacy as she changes, resisting the urge to catch a glimpse of her slender body.

"Okay, you can turn around now."

He turns around and takes in the picture of this woman, looking like a young girl dwarfed in his clothing. She's already slumped down onto his bed, knees drawn up tight under her chin. There's something appealing about seeing her wearing his clothing, languishing in his bed. He kneels next to the bed and pulls the blanket up as she lies down. Her eyes drift close as he tucks the blanket in around her. "I'll be right here, don't worry." He settles into a torn-up and stained armchair, propping his head up with his arm, to catch as much sleep as he can before his shift. His restless sleep is plagued with dreams of the attack and how much worse it could have gone. He wakes up several times feeling helpless, only to see her curled into a tight ball on the bed, facing the wall. _Those pills Doc gave her must have really worked_.

She wakes with a start at the feeling of calloused hands on her arms. "Shh, shh, it's just me," he comforts, gently brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes, using a tenderness he almost forgot he had. "My shift starts soon, but just stay here. I'll send Danvers up later with some breakfast. She can stay with you, if you like. Try to get some rest. Let me know if you need anything."

"A gun. J-just in case," she stutters.

"Of course." He pulls a sidearm out of a drawer and sets it down next to the bed. "Full clip."

"Thanks." Her green eyes meet his dark ones, warm with gratitude…and something else, but he's not sure what. A wan smiles passes across her face as she relaxes and runs a hand down his arm.

A bolt of lightning strikes through his body at her touch. _No, not now, not her. She's hurt and vulnerable, you'd just be taking advantage._

He smiles weakly at her as he steps out the door, locking it behind him. _Fuck. What an awful way to start out the week. Fuckfuckfuck, how could something like __**this**__ happen on my watch? I need to double patrols, something. I can't risk something happening to her…the rest of the city…ever again._ He stops again at this thought. Really, had he thought of her first? _Shit._

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><p>Danvers knocks on the door a few hours later. Asha stirs from the armchair to cautiously open the door, 10 mil in hand. Danvers flashes a smile. "Just me! Brought food. Can I come in?"<p>

An awkward silence sits between them as Asha picks at her food slowly.

"Men are _assholes_," Danvers says slowly.

Asha looks up, grateful for the conversation. "Not Harkness."

"Not Harkness," Danvers affirms with a smile. "He's always there to look out for you, er, for everyone," she adds hastily.

Asha raises an eyebrow. "He seeing anyone?" she asks as casually as she can.

Danvers smile broadens at the question. "No, I've never seen him with anyone as long as I've known him…Two years now, I think."

"Just how old is he?"

"He's never said, but I think he's in his late 20s. He joined the army just out of school and was only in it for a few years before the…freezing, you know. He told you about that, right?" Asha nods. "I guess he was married during that time, but during the tension of the war his wife left him. _Stupid bitch_."

"Sounds like you have a thing for him," Asha asks tentatively.

"Me? Ha! He's, uh, not my type."

"You like women?"

"Oh, no no, that's not what I meant. I thought about it for a while, but the Chief is just too straight laced. I like 'em wild. Right now I've got a thing for Crazy Wolfgang. I've been trying to get into _his_ pants for a while but he's so damned clueless. Doesn't help that I only see him for a day every fortnight. Why, you thinking about Harkness?"

Asha shrugs.

"Well, just between you and me," she gives a brief glance around the room, "he takes more notice of you than he does all other women on this boat combined."

Asha has to laugh at that. "I think that's just because he doesn't trust me. He was so fucking suspicious when I got here, thinking I was just in it for the glory and would turn out to be a bad apple."

"He doesn't think that," Danvers chides. "Believe me, a lot of women on this boat would give their right arm to get a smoldering glance from Harkness when he thinks they aren't looking, but he's never given anybody one…until you came aboard."

"What, really?"

"Asha, I'm the closest thing he's got to a friend in the city and I can definitely tell he's _smitten_."

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><p><strong>AN: I took liberties with the layout of Paradise Falls to fit my fight scene flow.**

**Chapter Summary: **Asha goes to Paradise Falls to take out the slavers. She frees the slaves there and kills everyone in the town. Three Dog hears and touts her as a hero across the Wasteland. Upon returning to Rivet City, she is attacked in her sleep in her room by Sister (who is mad that he won't be paid should he capture the android), but rescued by Harkness who kills Sister. Harkness takes her to his room since it is safe. Danvers tells Asha that Harkness has feelings for her.


	4. Forgetting

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, Bethesda does. I'm just writing for fun.**

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><p>It's been a couple weeks and Dr. Li still hasn't returned. Feeling hopeless and still pretty fucked up from the whole Sister incident, Asha heads down to the Muddy Rudder for a drink, knowing Harkness would be there now. She fully intends to get drunk, and she wants to take him with her. She needs something, anything to get the feeling of Sister pushing her legs apart out of her mind. Harkness is a good man, she trusts him, likes him, even.<p>

Picking up a bottle of vodka from Belle Bonny, she sits at Harkness' table, where he is cautiously observing the ever-growing crowd.

"You're never off-duty, are you?" she puzzles.

"I can't afford to be…especially not now," he adds quietly.

"Drink with me."

"No, I don't drink, not anymore."

"Seriously Harkness, you need to lighten up and let loose once in a while. With this," she holds up the bottle, the liquid sloshing around inside, "I can forget that my life is _fucked_ and the Wasteland is a desolate mass that'll probably never recover and kill us all with radiation." She laughs lightly, emptily.

"People have survived for 200 years."

"And what? Birth rates have slowed to a crawl, we can barely maintain replacement value. People are so sparse inbreeding is inevitable. Admit it, we're all _fucked_."

"This isn't the vault. We're not _fucked_." He suddenly takes a shot glass out of her hand. If she's going to self-destruct, he's going to be there for her. "But fine, drinking is what you want? Then drinking is what you'll get."

They get drunk fast, and Asha hangs on his arm, resting her spinning head on his shoulder. His heart thumps a little louder and he has thoughts of just turning his head ninety degrees to capture her lips with his, but being in public lets him fight the urge just enough. Instead, he brushes his hand through her hair and listens to her contented sigh.

"You want to…go somewhere private?" she looks at him suddenly, her eyes wide, pupils dilated, heat burning off them into his own. He senses her pulse has quickened by 22 beats per minute and her body temperature just rose two tenths of a degree.

"I…are you sure?" he looks down at the floor. He knows he can't say _no_, he's been having far too many thoughts about her since she came aboard to ever turn her down.

She takes his hand and leads him to the stairwell. She's drunk enough that she stumbles up the stairs, leaning on Harkness for support. He is only slightly more sober than her. A voice in the back of his head pings _Wrong, wrong_, but the alcohol and burning desire in his loins pushes it away. He longs to see the bare skin of her shoulders. He got a glimpse when she wore his too-large shirt, curled up into a tight ball on his bed. Beautiful shoulders. He imagines her trim waist under her shirt, always covered by thick armor. He shudders as they approach his door. She's only just returned to her own room, albeit a new one, and he misses seeing her in the morning, despite the fact that he was getting horrible sleep, waking up with a crick in his neck due to that stupid chair.

He barely locks the door when she throws her arms around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. Hungrily, she shoves her tongue into his mouth, probing and enticing him to do the same. He moans as he wraps his arms tightly around her. He struggles to remove his jacket as she desperately pulls at his shirt. Boots come off quickly.

They stumble back to the wall and she pushes him up against it aggressively. They kiss for a few minutes before he rolls, gently pressing her to the wall and sliding his hand down her ass, lifting her thigh up next to his hips to grind against her. He presses himself between her legs and feels her tense up slightly. He looks at her with concern but she continues to kiss him, slowly relaxing. "I want you," she purrs in his ear. A bolt of blood rushes to his loins as the fervor increases.

She clumsily fusses with his belt, rushing to get his pants off. He stumbles over them around his ankles as they make their way to the bed. His blunt nails lightly scratch her back as he hastily pulls her shirt up and over her head. Impatient, he shoves his hand into her pants to grab her ass and pull her close so he can grind against her. She moans as she fumbles with her belt, kicking off her pants just before falling onto the bed. He stretches atop her, their bodies sticking together with light sweat, down to just their skivvies. He kisses her longingly, deeply, while his hands roam. She grabs his ass and pulls him toward her, close to her womanhood as she moans deep from her chest.

_Wrong, wrong_ pings in his head again and this time he can't ignore it. He pushes himself up and looks down at her confused expression. "We can't do this, not-not like this. Not now."

"What, why?"

"You're drunk, _I'm_ drunk, and it's only been two weeks; this isn't how this should happen."

"You don't want me, you mean," she pushes herself up on her elbows as he climbs off of her.

"No, I do, believe me _I do_." He pauses, running his fingers lightly across her stomach. "I just think we should wait."

She sighs as she drops back to his bed. "You're right, of course you're right. I'm just so _furious_."

"At me?" he sounds taken aback.

"No, just at…everything. And _fucking Dr. Li_ still isn't back from her fool hydroponics mission. I need to find my dad, but I can't do it without her help. I wouldn't even know where to start, and that bitch isn't back yet. It's been _two months_. I almost think she's gone all the way up to the Commonwealth by now." The word Commonwealth instantly makes her think of the android. "And that _android_. Where the fuck is he?"

"Why do you care?"

"He's in _danger_, he deserves to know."

"You can't solve everyone's problems, you know."

"I can try," she snaps. "Sorry. I have to try, but there's so much pressure. This place…it's so bloody awful and nobody does a damn thing. It's selfishness that got us into this mess, and it sure as hell isn't going to get us out."

He gives her hand a gentle squeeze. "It's okay, I understand." He pauses hesitantly. "You-you're welcome to stay, if you like. Just for, you know, company."

She smiles at him faintly. "I'd like that." He pulls her down under the covers, turning off the desk lamp in the process. His arms wrap securely around her, their bodies beginning to chill from their exertion. She finds an incredible feeling of safety in his embrace and he finds something he has been missing for a long time. Companionship.


	5. Back on Track

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, Bethesda does. I'm just writing for fun.**

**A/N: Dr. Li is a bit OOC because I always feel like she's actually a lot bitchier than they portray her in the game.**

**Update: I also just realized that I wrote the location of Project Purity to be the Lincoln Memorial when I meant the Jefferson Memorial. Fixed!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>When she wakes in the morning, Harkness is already gone but he's left a note on the table.<p>

_I needed to get to work, but didn't want to wake you and disturb your sleep. You looked so peaceful. Dr. Li is back if you want to talk to her. ~Hark_

Her heart jumps into her throat. She scrambles to get dressed so she can finally meet this woman who has information on her father.

She gets stopped by Dr. Zimmer just as she enters the lab. He's just finished chewing out Anna, one of the lab assistants, and looks like he needed another snack.

"You there, you look like you know your way around the Wasteland and could use some caps."

"You have a problem with the way I look?"

"Don't misunderstand me, I mean you look like you're for hire as a mercenary. Perhaps you've heard about the missing android?"

"Perhaps."

"I'm paying 200 caps and giving a piece of Commonwealth technology—very valuable to an adventurer such as yourself—to whoever finds him and brings him to me."

"I hear he doesn't want to be found."

"Nonsense, his programming is merely _faulty_."

"Faulty? I heard he regrets his actions in the Commonwealth and just wants a new life, free of your _slavery_."

"Slavery? My dear girl, he is _my creation, my property_, how can a synthetic creation be anything but property?"

She mulls this over trying to come up with a fitting response. "Why don't you just make another one? What about him, there?" she gestures at Armitage.

Zimmer glances back at Armitage nervously. "You can tell he's an android, just like that?"

"His actions which are supposed to look non-repetitive just have a long repeat cycle. His blinking, breathing, the way he scans the room…it's pretty obvious, Doc."

His feathers ruffle at being referred to so casually. "My missing android is a more advanced model, much more difficult to create. Quite simply, it is _unique_. Given its tendencies I was hesitant to create another like it, lest it run away too."

"Isn't that a sign that he's more than just property?"

Zimmer scoffs. "Do you want the reward or not?"

"I'll _think_ about it," she answers curtly. She could just take his head off, right now, but Armitage would probably kill her quickly thereafter. If he isn't capable of moral reasoning, she wouldn't be able to convince him he didn't need to obey his master post-mortem. She needs to figure out a different way to deal with the situation. _Later_. First there is Dr. Li to deal with.

Dr. Li turns out to be a royal bitch. She tells Asha not to pursue her father, his work is pointless, and that she'll just get herself killed.

"Fuck you, just tell me where he is."

Li is obviously taken aback by the young woman's words. "I would show more respect, I _am_ a friend of your father's…and I was one of _your mother's_. I even assisted in your _birth_."

Asha wavers slightly at the mention of her mother. This woman her father spoke of often but she'd never met. She had an empty place in her heart, missing this woman that shouldn't matter at all, she'd never been there. Asha composes herself and continues. "You obviously aren't _that much_ of a friend to him if you won't even help him in his time of need, and you can't be that great of a doctor if you just _let my mother die_."

Li barely registers the latter half and quickly responds, "I told you the Project doesn't work, he just has this fool notion to continue it and he expects _me,_ _after 22 years,_ to just _drop everything_ and pick up Project Purity again."

"_Just tell me where he is_," she hisses through her teeth.

"Fine. He returned to the Project at the Jefferson Memorial. If you insist on following him, be careful. I hear the area is swarming with super mutants."

"Thank you," she says curtly as she turns on her heels and makes for the stairs. Zimmer calls out something behind her, a reminder, as she waves her hand in the air to indicate she remembers just fine and he should just shut up.

* * *

><p>His eyes pass over the various shop stalls in the market where he patrols. Seagrave Holmes seems to never be present, despite his hours posted. Shrapnel is sprawled out on the couch at the back of their booth, looking like he's nursing a hangover, as usual. Paulie Cantelli eyes the chem selection in his wife's shop. Cindy watches him like a hawk. <em>That kid is going to overdose and kill himself one day, and I don't think Cindy would even care.<em> His attention is diverted when a familiar figure quietly steps in through one of the ports. His face lights up at the sight of her, but he shakes it off. Duty, duty first.

"Hey Hark, I'm popping out for a bit, heading down to the Memorial. My dad should be there."

He smiles. "Good luck, and _be careful_." His stomach drops at the thought of her putting herself in danger, but he pushes it back. _I don't care for her; this is just lust, nothing more. Stop thinking you might actually have a future. She's not looking for anything more than a quick screw. She'll just leave you like your wife did. Can't trust women. We're all broken people who can't be fixed._

Her eyes linger just a little longer than necessary on his face and his breath catches. She gives a faint smile as she trails her fingers across his bared forearm before turning to head to the bridge. Harkness' heart clenches and his previous thoughts fly out the window. _Maybe she does care, after all_.

* * *

><p>Happy she's got a direction and a place to direct her anger, she sets out for the Memorial before noon. She pushes aside the thought that her father might be dead as she takes down a dozen mutants on her way to the Gift Shop, killed by the hulking green beasts. <em>No<em>, she thinks, _Dad is too smart to get killed._ She remembers her dad teaching her to shoot and wondering at the time _why_ a doctor who grew up _in a vault_ would know how to shoot a gun. Well, now she knows. She was born at the Memorial. That's a weird thought; it's almost like a strange sort of home-coming to a home she never knew.

She makes it into the building and silently slinks down the hallway. She _hates_ close-quarters combat, especially with super mutants that are six times her size and ten times as strong. She's had her skull cracked more than once by a super mutant with a sledgehammer.

She finds what she's looking for and decides not to waste any time in heading to Vault 112. That's where her father is, she's sure of it. If he had already found what he'd been looking for, he would have been back here or Rivet City. Something may have gone wrong. She quells her nervous thoughts and quickly heads out.


	6. The Morning After

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, Bethesda does. I'm just writing for fun.**

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><p>Harkness heard the Vertibirds flying over Rivet City toward the Memorial. He heard the radio broadcasts. He heard the rumors that the Lone Wanderer didn't make it out alive. He compromises one day by walking out till he is in sight of the massive building perched over the water, spying the Enclave force shields barricading the entire area. He forces himself to stay put at his post, resisting the urge to comb the new Enclave base for her. He tells himself he's merely concerned about the welfare of the whole team and the Project. He tries to deny that he has a growing pit of fear in his stomach that he'll never see her again.<p>

* * *

><p>She can barely pull herself out of bed at the Citadel. It should have been <em>her<em>. She should have died, not her father. She would have taken that bastard Autumn _with her_. She blinks back tears. She knows he died _for her_. Others will say he did it for everyone, so that the Enclave couldn't take the power of the water and claim the victory…but she knows he did it just for her.

She rests her hand against a broken mirror in the bathroom, washing her mouth out after vomiting for the third time today. She remembers putting her hand up to the glass, watching her father sputter and die from radiation poisoning, his hand crawling up the glass to meet hers in his last desperate attempt to tell her he loves her. He _loved_ her, she corrects herself.

Anger should be there, boiling deep in her stomach, lighting a fire to go kill each and every Enclave officer herself…but instead all she feels is _numb_. Her entire world has been ripped apart in a matter of months, and her last stronghold, her father, has been taken down by this awful beast known as the DC Wasteland.

"Fuck!" she yells, it echoing off the walls in this desolate bathroom, before collapsing into a crying ball on the dirty floor. Her father had died, and _that bitch_ Dr. Li had _lived_. It's _not fair_. Dr. Li didn't even care about this project, didn't _care_ about her, but was deemed worthy of living by the fates. Deemed worthy because she was a coward who wouldn't sacrifice herself to save others. Asha scrambles in her pack for something, anything, to dull the pain. She finds a tube of Med-X and shoots up for the fifth time today, fourth day in a row since her father died, slipping away into a numb waking-dream state.

She ignores the looks she garners from the Brotherhood she passes on her way out to the front gate. She lazily stumbles along, making it to the bridge from which she can see Rivet City, before the Med-X starts to wear off. She falls to the asphalt and shoots up again, the warmth spreading over her and erasing the pain deep in her heart. She stumbles forward again, eventually making it to the City. The guard at the bridge swings it across after recognizing the voice on the intercom.

_Harkness, where's Harkness?_ She ponders to herself, slowly looking at her Pip-Boy to determine the time. _20:15. Dinner, he's eating dinner at the Galley._

At the sound of the bridge door shutting with a loud _bang_ Harkness' head jerks up. Asha gracelessly slides down the stairs, stumbling at the bottom, into the Market. He drops his fork as his mouth drops open. He's never seen her like this. She looks so lost and careless. She lazily makes her way through the crowd to plop herself down on the bench next to him. Her head hits the table with a loud _thud_.

"Asha, are you alright?" He notes she is travelling particularly light with only a simple pistol on her hip and her eyes are rimmed with dark circles.

"Oh _sure_, I'm _fine._ Everything is coming up roses!"

"Where have you been?"

"The Citadel," she tosses out offhandedly.

_And the Brotherhood didn't think to take greater care of you than this?_ "I heard on the radio that the Enclave took the Memorial. Did everyone get out safely?"

"It's not fair, you know," she sits up with a start, staring at him with glassy eyes. "That _bitch_ survives, and _he doesn't_. It's so _fucked up_. Remember I told you everyone is fucked and the whole Wasteland is fucked and we're all just gonna _die here_ because everything is _so fucked_? Well, I was _right_."

"Who didn't survive?"

"My _father. James_." She elongates the words in a dramatic manner.

Harkness cannot hide his shock but he has no idea what to do with this woman next to him. She's obviously drugged up, so he doubts he can have a clear conversation with her, but she's in such pain he doesn't want to leave her alone either. Heaven forbid she behaves like Mister Lopez and climbs to the top of the carrier to look over the edge, contemplating just what it would feel like to fall silently into the water below.

"I need to get you out of here," he stands and tries to help her to her feet.

She pushes him away. "I don't need _your help_. I don't need _anyone's help_. I can do this, all of it, by myself. And why? Because I have to. Why do I have to? Because no-one else does a _damn thing_." She stands up and stumbles backwards over the bench, falling flat on her back, knees up in the air. "Ffffffuck."

Anyone who wasn't staring before is definitely staring now. "Come on," Harkness says gently. "Even if you don't _need_ my help, at least _accept_ it." He slides an arm under her back and the other under her knees and lifts her off the ground with a long grunt. Her head rolls back as she mumbles incoherently. Taking her to Doctor Preston is the first order of business. These drugs need to get out of her system. After that…well, he'll figure it out later.

* * *

><p>"Alright, looks like she's only lightly addicted, the chems haven't been in her system that long. She also has no organ damage. She did overdose, but nothing lethal. I'll help flush the drugs out of her system, but keep an eye on her. She's going to have one hell of a hangover and her recovery is going to be a pain in the ass."<p>

"Thanks Doc." He carries her back to her quarters. He has to set her down and fumble through her sack for the key before finally locating it in one of her pants' pockets. He gets the door open and the smell of something _warm_ hits him…some sort of spice but he can't quite place it. He flicks on the light and sets the sleeping woman down on the bed. A line of perspiration is forming along her hairline showing she's starting to come down off the drug.

Her room is in slight disarray and he has to fight the urge to straighten things up. Curiosity gets the best of him so he starts rifling through her stuff. _How's she going to know, anyway?_ He finds the holotapes James left and, after giving a glance to see that she's still asleep, pops them in for a listen. There's her mom too, Catherine. They were really in love. And there it is—that damned altruism Asha has. He hears it in her father's voice as well. It's what got him killed; he fears it's what will get her killed, too.

* * *

><p>The recovery is painful, but he takes a couple days off duty to watch over her. Not that she's the least bit grateful. She spends most of the time swearing at him and trying to throw what few objects she could manage to find in her room. He gracefully dodges every attack and patiently waits out her anger. He tells himself that he's doing this for the good of the City, to avoid another junkie on deck. He tells himself that he's doing this for the good of the Wasteland, so they can have the Vault girl back and all the heroics she manages. But deep down he knows that he does it because he couldn't stand to lose her to herself.<p>

After a few days she crumbles in his arms, sobbing and hiccuping her way through explaining all the pain she's experiencing since her father's death. She tells him about life in the Vault, the bastard of an Overseer, how scared she was at Paradise Falls, and how she wanted her own life to end while watching her father die in front of her. His heart breaks at her admissions and he cradles her even closer, as though he could push away her pain and anguish by sheer willpower alone. He knows now that no matter what she does or where she goes, she will always be a part of him.


	7. Strange Bedfellows

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, Bethesda does. I'm just writing for fun.**

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><p>The day after Asha's breakdown in Harkness' arms, he disappears. He got too close to her, too fast, and now his fears get the best of him. He remembers his wife, the breakdown she had just before he was sent to Canada for the annexation, and the way he comforted her. She took to drinking after he left, spent all her days at the bottom of a bottle. When he came home on a short leave, she was but a shadow of the woman he left. He tried, again, to help her, help her get past this new addiction. But she just pushed him away. She said everything she could think of to hurt him, and then found the final straw. Told him they <em>needed to talk<em> and shortly thereafter went to live with her mother. Never saw her again. He was shipped to Alaska to hold the frontier the day after. The divorce papers came in the mail not much later. He's been hurt, and he can't help but think he'll be hurt again if he continues down this path with his new emotional interest, Asha.

* * *

><p>Having been promptly abandoned like a pair of blood-soaked shoes by Harkness, Asha spirals downwards again. The drugs are out of her system, but the bitterness still clings like a bad odor. She's had enough of helping people. Dad helped people and it just got him killed. Everyone else out there is a selfish asshole, why shouldn't she be one too? She feels like killing, hurting, just dishing out the pain she feels so that maybe someone somewhere out there will understand <em>just what she's been through<em>.

She hears the Vault 101 Emergency Broadcast signal, so she leaves her house in Megaton to see what the fuck is going on _now_. Before she's even entered, she's made up her mind. She's going to kill the Overseer. She should have when she left months ago, but chose the diplomatic route and let him live. But fuck that, that fucker killed Jonas and tried to kill her father _and her_ and he's—well—he's the base reason half the Vault is _dead_ right now and she's gonna make sure that he knows what that feels like _real good_.

Within two hours, she tells Amata it's over.

"You didn't have to kill him."

"Yes, I _did_," Asha hisses back. "You should be _damn grateful_ that I came here to solve your little crisis for you. I swear, nobody in the _world_ knows how to handle their own shit, I have to do it _for_ them."

"So why did you come back, if it such a hardship to help your old family?"

"_Family?"_ she scoffs. "My only family is _dead. _ I came back for one thing: to kill the Overseer. I don't fucking care what you do with your precious Vault anymore."

"Well that's good, because you _can't ever come back_."

"Fine, I don't need you anyway. I _don't need anyone_."

* * *

><p>A fortnight later, Asha finds herself back in Rivet City, looking for a cheap drink in the Muddy Rudder. A familiar face makes an appearance.<p>

"_Butch_, I heard you were in town."

The drunken young man pulls himself up from the bar to face eye-to-eye with the scarred young woman he knew in his youth. "Miss having a Tunnel Snake around, man?"

"I knew you were desperate to get out of the Vault. Didn't think you'd be _so desperate_ as to follow _me_ once Amata unleashed you."

"_Follow _you? What makes you think I even _need_ you?"

"Without me, you'd still be rotting in that Vault."

"If it weren't for _your dad_ my _ma_ would still be _alive_," he hisses.

"If your mom wasn't such a _drunk_ she'd still be alive."

"Well at least she didn't _abandon _me by leaving the Vault."

"Watch what you say about my father."

"Oh, little girl gonna cry about her dead daddy? The world's _better off without _that _selfish asshole_, he was just fucking it up for _everyone_."

She can't hold back any longer. This pain that has been building in her since her hand burned from the radiation against the glass, desperate to have one last connection to her dying father, has come tumbling over. The dam has broken. Her hand slips into her pocket, clenching around her brass knuckles. She leaps at Butch with such a fury unleashed that he stumbles back from surprise.

But not too surprised to forget to pull out his switchblade.

She's so angry she doesn't even notice the gashes he's left on her arms. All she knows is that she hears his yells for mercy as she wails against his chest. Eventually she decides that a blunt object in her hand is not doing enough damage. She takes a bottle and breaks it off at the neck. Finally, something sharp to counter his switchblade with. She relishes it as he edges away from her, realizing his drunken stupor is no match for her unbridled anger and skill.

"_Asha_. DeLoria," a strong voice calls out from the stairwell to the Muddy Rudder.

Asha hisses and turns around to face the interloper, knowing exactly who he is. _Harkness_.

"Drop the glass." He sounds too calm. He knows she won't hurt him. "Don't make this any worse, Asha. DeLoria, drop the switchblade."

"She started it!"

"I don't give a _fuck_ who started it. You're both adults and know better than to get into a petty fight."

"Petty!" she screeches. "He called _my father_'s honor into question. _My father!_ My father had more honor in his pinky than _you_," she glances sidelong at Butch, "will ever have in your entire body!"

Butch backs away sheepishly and drops his blade.

The bottle and brass knuckles drop to the ground with a crash and clatter, while Asha shoots arrows at Harkness with her eyes.

"DeLoria, get your ass out of here. _Now_. Leave the blade. Asha. Follow me."

The Chief firmly grasps Asha's elbow as he leads her up to his office.

"What the hell is wrong with you? DeLoria I expect this from, but you…"

"What, _Little Miss 101_ isn't allowed to fuck up?" She grimaces at her usage of her nickname. It reminds her of what the people of the Wasteland expect her to be.

"I don't know why you're here, taking out your aggression on _me_ when there are plenty of Enclave out there that need killing."

"Maybe it's not _my problem_. I'm tired of playing the hero; it's just going to get me killed." She glances at him, expecting a sign of agreement. He agrees but doesn't dare to show it. She sighs and continues, "Look, all I need is a fight and a fuck, and I don't want either of them with _you_."

* * *

><p>Butch finds Asha on the top deck of the carrier. They're both still heated and ready for a fight, unfinished business lying between them. Her keen ears pick up his footsteps before he can get close and she whirls around to face him, wishing she had a weapon on her. Butch is angling to get a good shot in but Asha is too ready. He dives and she easily dodges so he runs into the guardrail. Taking advantage of the moment, she kicks his knees in so he falls to the ground and jumps on his back, twisting his arm behind him.<p>

He uses his weight against her and rolls himself over so she releases him. She scrambles away before he can swing a punch and returns with one of her own when he follows her. She makes firm contact with his jaw, splitting his lip and he takes the opening and gets her in the mouth. She spits her own blood at him and dives after him, knocking him flat on his back. Again he rolls them over and pins her arms above her head.

"Asha, fuck!" is all he can manage. Such anger burns in her eyes. Such passion. Impulsively he leans down and roughly kisses her. She struggles and manages to push him off with her legs, giving him a firm slap across his cheek.

"Fuck off, Butch. Just fucking…fuck off. I can't deal with you, I can't deal with all of this shit. So do me a favor and just _fuck off_." Turning swiftly she strides back into the carrier, headed for her room.

Butch takes off after her, catching her at her door as she's trying to open it. He pins her up against the door, his face mere inches from hers. "No. I'm not leaving you alone."

"Isn't it obvious I don't want you around?" she hisses, struggling to get the door unlocked. She does and falls in, closely followed by Butch. She stalks to a corner of the room and he plops down in a chair, watching her pace.

"You're hurting, _I get that_. Let me help, Asha. Let me be a friend."

"I don't have friends. I don't _need_ friends."

"Everyone out here adores you, I've heard Three Dog's radio announcements."

"They see me as a tool to fix the Wasteland, not as a friend."

"Then let me be your friend."

She sighs and looks down to contemplate the tracks of red of her arms left from Butch's Toothpick.

"You know, for a nerd and Doc's kid, you're not half-bad." He nudges her arm. "You okay? I cut you pretty bad."

"You want to be my friend? Then help me dress them."

There are long moments of silence as they work to clean her wounds and cover them with gauze. A final injection from a Stimpack helps to take care of the rest.

"I'm sorry about your dad. He deserved better, much better. Doc James was always a good man."

"Thank you, Butch," she mumbles just above a whisper. "I'm sorry about your mom."

He gives an empty laugh. "You were right, if she wasn't such a drunk she'd still be alive."

"I'm sorry I couldn't save her."

"Hell, if I weren't such a _coward_, she'd still be alive."

"You're not a coward."

There's a moment of silence before he says quietly, "I'm not _you_, Asha. You have a strength that none of us Tunnel Snakes had. Don't tell anyone I said that though."

"I won't," she responds in an almost whisper.

She takes off her shirt, back facing Butch, to wash up. He notices all the scars she's acquired since leaving the Vault. Laser rifle burns, bullet wounds, cuts, and a track of what look to be Yaoi Guai scratches. _Damn. For a nerd she's pretty badass. Maybe she can be in my gang._ His eyes drift down her back to her slender waist. Before he realizes it, he's standing behind her, tracing the scars lightly with his fingertips. He feels a shiver go down her spine. Butch finds himself wondering what her skin tastes like, what the gentle flesh of her neck _feels _like. He arches his neck ever-so-slightly to catch the base of her neck with his lips. Salt and dirt, a splash of beer where it dripped on her as it flew past her head.

She gasps and turns to face him. He half-expects her to hit him again, but instead her eyes are liquid. He runs a finger lightly across her jawline. Her mouth opens just slightly, beckoning him on, in towards her. Their lips meet with a sharp inhale. He tastes the earthy metal of her bloody lip and feels her wince as his saliva stings in the wound. But she just pulls him closer. Her hands are pulling desperately at the hem of his bloodied shirt, teasing his skin with trailing scratches. He pulls off his shirt with one hand and her arms are up, desperate, around his neck, her breasts grazing his chest as she stands up on her toes to reach his mouth better.

His arms loop about her waist, feeling her smooth skin, before trailing his hands down to her ass. Her cargo pants are definitely in the way. With one hand, he deftly unbuckles them while she kicks off her boots. Pushing him back toward the bed, she removes his belt and frees him of his pants. He pulls her against him and gently lays her down, covering her mouth with his with bruising kisses. She pants as his hand trails inside her underwear, finding her already wet, thrusting one finger in slowly. She moans and arches into him and he nudges her bra down to get a nipple.

He is rewarded with a sharp gasp as she then strokes against his growing need that is pushing against her thigh. "Too…much…clothing," she struggles to get out in between his ministrations. Her legs are already beginning to stiffen and she knows she needs him _now_. Tearing his boxers off and freeing her breasts from their binding she pulls Butch tight against her. He roughly slides his hands down her hips to jerk her underwear off, sending it across the room.

She nips at his shoulder and he swiftly pushes into her, eliciting a pleasurable scream from her. He feels her quiver under his body and her hands scratching deeply up his back urge him to go harder and faster. He gets lost in the sound of her guttural moans and one of his hands fist in her hair while the other roughly obtains a breast.

He feels her clench around him as she screams his name, squeezing her legs tight about his waist. He issues a deep groan as he spills into her, trying to maintain the focus to keep thrusting until they have both had their fill.

His chest sticks to hers with sweat as he lets out a long sigh, pulling out to fall to her side. He gathers her in his arms, wrapping around her possessively. She may not be his for long, but she is his tonight and he's going to make the most of it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Reviews are love, and I love my reviewers! Thanks folks!


	8. The Android

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, Bethesda does. I'm just writing for fun.**

**A/N: Sorry it took a little longer than normal to get this chapter up. I've been a bit distracted by Skyrim, as I imagine is a common affliction right now...**

* * *

><p>"Butch, when's the last time you were with a woman?" Asha lies on her side, facing her bed partner, a short arm's reach away.<p>

He chuckles. "Susie Mack."

"Ha! Susie Mack…was that a regular thing or…?"

"Nah baby, no woman can cage a Tunnel Snake! What about you?"

"Freddie Gomez."

"Ha ha! A Tunnel Snake strikes again! That was a while ago then…has there been anyone since?"

She laughs nervously. "Well," she exhales quickly, "not really. I mean, there was almost, but…"

"Okay, who is this guy that I need to beat up till he notices you?"

"Oh, I wouldn't recommend trying to beat him up."

"Baby, please! I'm a Tunnel Snake, we're the baddest of asses around!"

"Well it's moot, he notices me, that's not the problem…"

"What, his dick ain't workin'?"

She laughs again. "No, that _definitely_ works…"

"Then what's the problem? Who is this dude anyway?"

"Harkness," she mumbles under her breath.

"Who?"

She nervously clears her throat. "Chief…Harkness."

Butch immediately howls with laughter. "I thought there was something there! No wonder he didn't shoot ya for holding that bottle to my neck!" Asha laughs with him before they quiet down for a contemplative silence.

"I'm glad you came to town Butchie, it's great seeing you." She smiles over at him but he just looks thoughtful for once.

"You know, your father was a good man. That's rotten that the Enclave killed him. I don't know why you're not doing something about it."

She sighs. "Everyone else out there is a selfish asshole, why can't I be?"

"That's not who you are, Asha. You're too much like the Doc. You were only ever happy when you were helping people in the Vault; I doubt that's changed."

"I just don't know what to do, Butch. The Enclave..."

"Fuck the Enclave. They'll be around long enough for you to kick their asses in the future. Just start _somewhere_ with someone."

Asha sighs. "Thanks, Butch, you're right. Okay, get up. You're coming with me."

"Wait, what? I never said _I_ was gonna stop being a selfish asshole!"

"Too bad, you're making me get into this mess, you sure as hell are coming with me!"

"Where are we going?"

"The bow of the ship."

"Wait, the broken off part with all the mirelurks? What for?"

"There's a doctor up there, another scientist, who I need to see."

"Your lover-boy still has my switchblade."

She laughs. "You can use one of my guns. That little blade isn't going to do much against a mirelurk anyway, they're heavily armored."

"What're you calling _little_?" he teases.

* * *

><p>"Kid, can't you tell when an old man just wants to be left alone? There's a reason I spread the rumor that I was dead," Pinkerton grouses at Asha as she creeps into his lab, making her way past the last of his traps.<p>

"Doctor, I'm just here for some information and then I'll be out of your hair."

He glances at her sidelong. "Yeah? Well, what sort of information?"

"I've been told that you have the expertise to perform a memory wipe and a face change on a Commonwealth android."

"And what of it?"

"I'm looking for him."

"Why for?"

"Why does it matter? I'm not going to betray him."

He grunts in response. "Kid, betrayal takes all forms, some more obvious than others."

"Please, doctor, I only want help him. Did you do the work?"

"Yeah, I did the work. I'm probably the only person in the whole damn Wasteland with the ability to successfully execute such procedures."

"Why-why did you do it?"

"Why do you think? To get a close look at that Commonwealth technology, that's why. What they have is decades more advanced than anything we'll come up with in the Wastes, and still more advanced than what the Brotherhood or Enclave hope to achieve in the near future."

"So that's it, then? You just made the changes he wanted and sent him on his way?"

"What was I supposed to do? Babysit him?"

"Where'd you get the new memories for him?"

"Snuck into a Vault. Old scientist named Braun has a bunch of people trapped in stasis pods, all tapped into a central computer core. Plenty of stored memories from the Vault residents who have since died despite being in stasis. Easy enough to hack the system and copy the files out and implant them into a new computer core, namely the android's head."

"So who is he? Where'd he go? He thinks he just woke up from stasis in a Vault and..." Asha pauses as a sad realization begins to dawn on her. _It can't be, can it? No, not him, he's too...human!_

Pinkerton chuckles at that. "He's probably a lot closer than you think. Calls himself Harkness now."

Asha's eyes quickly flick up to his as she visibly grows weak in the knees. Butch catches her waist and lets her down into a chair while she whispers, "No, I can't believe it."

"Familiar with him, are you?" the doctor asks, not understanding the gravity of her realization.

"What-what about his emotions?" she struggles out quietly. "Are they real? Or are they just...implanted too?"

"If _he_ thinks he can feel, than I'd say he can feel. After all, how do any of us know we feel emotion besides deciding for ourselves what emotion is?"

"But his body it's..."

"It's organic. It was still made by someone, but it was all formed organically. He think he's as human as the rest of us, and as far as I can tell, his body was originally designed to precisely and accurately synthesize that of a human. He breathes, bleeds, eats, sleeps, all of it. Maybe it all has a purpose, or maybe it's just programming to make him feel 'normal,' I don't know. I didn't ask him before the memory wipe, but he took to biological processes like it was natural after I gave him the new memories."

* * *

><p>Asha sits in a corner of Pinkerton's lab while the old man putts around mumbling to himself about some research he's working on. Butch plants himself on the ground next to her and wraps an arm around her shoulder.<p>

"You okay?"

"I just can't believe it. He's just so... human!"

"You know, you almost _fucked _a robot!"

Asha draws a tense hand across her eyes. "…_Android_."

"Whatever. What is his body like? Did he taste like metal? Is his skin cold? What about bones, did you feel bones or he just all hard? Wait, does he eat or drink? How does his dick work? _Does_ his dick even work?"

"Yes…it works…" she sighs.

"Well, that's good, I was about to feel sorry for the fucker for having a limp dick."

"_Butch_…"

"Sorry, just trying to cheer you up."

"I _really_ don't need to be thinking about his, erm, 'technical specifications' right now, if you don't mind."

Butch lets a brief silence play out before asking, "What are you going to do?"

She heaves a sigh. "I have to tell him. He deserves to know, and there's no way I could ever look him in the eye again without him knowing."

"Well if you thought about his _technical specifications_ a bit more you might not have to worry about looking him in the _eye_..."

"_Butch!"_

* * *

><p>A knock comes lightly at his office door before a familiar face appears in the crack between door and doorframe. A tentative smile graces her face, trying to hide the tightness in her features from the anxiety of what is to come.<p>

"Asha…I trust you've…recovered your senses."

"Sorry for being an ass, Hark."

"DeLoria I expect it from, not you."

"I've been stressed."

He sighs. "I know, I wish I knew what to say. Sit down." He motions to the stiff chair across from him. "I owe you an apology, too. Probably an even bigger one. I—I'm sorry for dashing out on you like that. Right after, you know, after you..."

She nods understandingly, her jaw clenching to will back tears.

"And I know that I probably don't deserve... I mean, I just thought... I hoped we could," he stumbles over his words, heaving a big sigh and reaching out to lightly take her hand, "I hoped maybe we could spend more time together."

She swallows heavily before looking into her lap. A sick feeling builds in his stomach. _Oh no, I've gone and done it. She doesn't actually want to be with me, she really was just looking for one night..._

"Hark," she exhales nervously, "before we can make any...or try to..." she brushes a hand through her hair and looks away, searching for the right words, "we need to talk."

His mouth goes dry. "Sounds like what my wife told me just before she went to live with her mother."

She just stares at him with doe eyes before pulling her hand away into her lap. "Um, about that; how much do you remember about your life before coming out of stasis?"

"Everything, why?" he squints at her, confused.

"What do you remember about coming out of stasis?"

Harkness stops. This part of his memory has always been cloudy...he just remembers suddenly...existing. Where, where was that? "There was a doctor, it must have been a lab...in a Vault somewhere. I went into Stasis in a Vault, so, I must have..." he trails off. _I don't remember leaving a Vault. Just the lab._

"Do you remember the doctor's name?"

He frowns. "Why does that matter?" _What was his name?_

"Hark, have you ever met Doctor Pinkterton in the broken bow?"

He laughs. "That old coot is _dead_. I'm surprised you've even heard of him."

"He's not dead, Harkness. I just spent the last two days with him."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"He-he's the doctor you remember."

He shakes his head. "That can't be right, when was he ever at the Vault with the stasis pods?"

"Harkness, you didn't wake up from a stasis pod in a Vault. You...had a memory wipe, right here, in Rivet City. A memory wipe and a face change."

"_What?_ Why are you lying to me?" He stands suddenly, a scowl growing across his face.

"I'm not lying! Harkness, you-you're..." She buries her face in her hands, before slowly looking up at him. "You're the runaway android Zimmer is after."

"Stop lying to me! What are you trying to accomplish?" _No! That can't be true, can't be!_

"I'm not lying; I would never lie to you."

"_Then what the fuck is going on?" Why is she trying to hurt me? I thought she cared!_

She fiddles with her Pip-Boy and an audio recording plays. The voice is…familiar, but he can't quite place it. It sounds electronic, artificial. It's the missing Commonwealth android. A3-21, his designation was. He betrayed his masters…searched for a doctor in the Wasteland who could perform a face change and a memory wipe… Harkness' voice appears on the recording, before the memory wipe, explaining everything.

Harkness charges towards her. "What kind of sick joke is this?" _Someone must have put her up to this._

"It's not a joke."

"Then what do you want? Are you trying to blackmail me?"

"No, I thought you should know _the truth_."

"The _truth_? The truth is I'm Security Chief Harkness in Rivet City, where I've lived for two years. Before that I was a soldier, and I don't need to put up with any of this _shit_ you're spewing at me. _Get out of my office_." _It can't be true, it can't! Those memories! That was...is my life!_

"Hark…" she reaches a hand out towards him, running her fingers on the edge of his wrist.

He jerks his arm away. "Don't call me that. You're not who I thought you were. If you feel the need to address me, you can use my proper title."

"Yes sir," she quietly leaves his office, but not before placing a series of holotapes on his desk. "In case you're curious. I'm just trying to help you, Chief."

The holotapes stare heavily at him. He violently pushes them off the desk, where they scatter to the ground. He falls into his chair, clutching his head with his hands, nearly tearing out his hair. _Those scars, __from Alaska—they disappeared. The first couple weeks in Rivet City, I kept bumping into everything, like I was taller than I should be. My reaction time...I've been told it's just too good. No, still it can't be true...can it? My whole life...a lie?_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks reviewers! I can't tell you how great it feels to know that people are enjoying and following my writing!**


	9. Remembering

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, Bethesda does. I'm just writing for fun.**

* * *

><p>Her knuckle traces along the shell of his ear as she gently nips at his jaw. Running her hand down his neck to his shoulder she leans back and sensually licks her upper lip before playfully biting down on the lower one. Her eyes flick to his and she gives a little smile as he growls, "Oh, I could take you <em>right now<em>."

She brings both her arms to rest on his shoulders, pressing her breasts together in a magnificent show of cleavage that he cannot resist gazing upon. "Patience makes it all the sweeter," she whispers, lightly trailing her fingertips down his arm to grasp his hand and lead him along.

"Where are we going?" He hopes, _prays_ that she's leading him to her bed because he won't be able to control himself much longer.

"That would spoil the surprise…" she replies before giving a light giggle that cuts through the heady fog of lust swirling around his head. He gives her a crooked smile before trying to grab her waist with both arms.

She quickly steps back and easily pushes open the door to the cabin, leading him inside. The door slams with a cold _clang_ behind him, snapping his attention to the multitude of strangers in the room. Harkness suddenly finds himself surrounded by well-armed hostiles all pointing guns at his chest.

"Well done, my dear," croons Zimmer, taking Asha's hand and kissing it before pulling her intimately to his side. "I knew you could get him to come easily."

Asha giggles and brushes her nose against his creator's ear before replying, "Anything for you, love."

Harkness sits up with a start, sweat dripping from his brow and sheets clenched in his fists, very alone in his own cabin.

* * *

><p>He spends a considerable amount of time the next day contemplating his own existence. Reliving old memories, ones deemed important, looking for any evidence that what Asha said is true. He examines his hands, wonders at how he would have blood or feel hungry or grow hair (he does shave everyday, after all) if he truly is an android. Most importantly, how he <em>feels<em>, why an android would have _emotions_, ones as strong as he has for a certain redhead from a hole under a mountain.

He spends a large amount of time watching her, as well. She sits on the balcony overlooking the Marketplace, reading a book. Her eyes occasionally dart up to drag across the crowd, spending a little too much time on him, before burying back into the surprisingly untattered novel.

_She's watching for something, someone,_ he thinks, as she looks up to pan the room again. He returns to watching the crowd trading with the vendors, glancing up at her now and then. He swears he sees her staring intently at him, making him shift uncomfortably in his armor. His hand twitches as he considers approaching her, demanding to know just what her motivation for this _lie_ is.

Yes, _lie_. He decides there is no possible way that he could be an android. He tells himself that his memories are true, that the inconsistencies are due to simple forgetfulness. He tells himself that Asha must have an ulterior motive despite her goody-two-shoe outer appearance. _No-one_ is that good, he tells himself. He almost believes himself, despite how much he cares for her.

Pulling out of his reverie, his eyes follow her as she slowly stands from her perch, stretching with a yawn before meandering out one of the ports, further into the ship. The day draws to a close and he's no longer needed in the Marketplace, so he quickly follows her, cornering her in a lonesome hallway on the second floor. "Hey, One-oh-One, I want to talk to you. Privately."

"Um, sure, okay. My cabin is just down the hall." She slowly unlocks the room and Harkness roughly pushes his way past her into the cabin, firmly pushing the door shut after her. "I don't believe you." _Yes, you do, admit it._

"You heard the tapes."

"Those could be faked. You're up to something." _No, she's not._ "What's your angle?" _She wants you to know the truth; it's for your own good._ He tamps down on his inner-voice, letting his suspicious Security Chief nature take over for a bit.

"Why don't you trust me?"

"Why _should_ I trust you?" he squints at her, fingering his sidearm. _Because you care about her, perhaps you even…no, that's not possible._

Her hands lift non-threateningly in the air as she quells a look of surprise. "Because I've never hurt you."

He laughs, a hollow laugh. "You're just waiting for the right time. _Everyone_ is just waiting for the right time." He suddenly regains his straight face and charges her against the wall, hand at the base of her neck. "I've seen you, watching me, _studying_ me, like I was some bug under a glass. How do I know you're not just desperate for the bounty, willing to turn in an innocent man to a life of slavery?" _You're not that innocent. And remember what she did to those slavers. "_How do I know you're not just lying to me to..."

"Do you want proof?"

"What?"

"I can prove it to you."

"I have a good mind to just end this nonsense right now by throwing you and Zimmer off this boat, _permanently_." His thumb grazes across her neck in a gesture that would be sexy if not for the look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry; you leave me no choice… Activate, A3-21…"

"What? What are you doing?" He falls back in minor alarm, feeling something trigger in his mind.

"Recall code violet."

* * *

><p>His body freezes up as he is consumed by blackness. All he hears are his boots hitting the metal floor in a halted sort of run. Highlights bounce off the walls and door handles until he bursts through into the dark, comforting night. The fresh air hits him and he can breathe for the first time in what feels like days.<p>

The seizing pain in his chest won't let up and he grips his gun tightly. He looks down at the floor in front of him, barely illuminated by moonlight, and sees the empty face of a woman, blood strewn across her forehead, the heat from his gun still new.

His throat catches and he blinks. The woman disappears. _All those runners I brought down_… It couldn't have been him, it couldn't. That was a different man…a _machine_ blindly following orders. That's not who he was. He was a soldier, with _feelings_…no, that wasn't him either. That was some man long-dead, his memories locked away in a computer bank. He didn't have an identity. The harshness of his former life hits him fast and strong. He's changed since he became Harkness, he's changed so much that he doesn't even recognize himself.

But it's all built on lies. Maybe who he is now is a lie too.

He grips the handrailing in front of him, staring into the waters below. It would be easy to just climb over and let himself drop. _I'm an android, who's to say that I could even drown?_ He vomits quickly at the thought before dropping to his knees. He feels so alone—no, he _is _alone; there is no one out there who could possibly understand what he's going through.

A shuffle of boots commands his attention. He jumps up and points his gun straight at the chest of his companion. "How long have you been there, One-oh-One?"

"I followed you out," she says calmly, handing him a bottle of water. "Take it."

"So you can stab me in the back?"

She sighs. "You've been standing there, oblivious to my presence, for over an hour. If I was going to do something, I _would have already done it_."

He haltingly takes the water from her and rinses his mouth. "How much is he paying you?"

"What?"

"Zimmer. I know he's put an open bounty on the andr—on _me_—and I'm wondering _how much_ he's paying you to bring me in."

She falters. "Why does it matter?" The moonlight reveals her puzzled expression.

"I want to know what I'm _worth_ to you."

"What kind of question is that?" _She doesn't get it_.

"You must be working for him if you've gone through this much trouble to find me."

She gives a short bark of a laugh. "Harkness, when will you learn that I'm not going to hurt you? I'm not turning you over to _anyone._ I care about you. Anyway, Idon't sell people into slavery, or have you forgotten what I did to Paradise Falls?" She sighs again. "Besides, it's a moot point. I already sent him packing before I even told you. I gave him an old component Pinkerton removed, made Zimmer think you're dead."

He stares at her in silence for what seems an eternity, his face immutable and unreadable. He takes two swift, broad steps towards her, almost knocking her off her feet as he buries his hand in her hair and crushes his lips to hers.

"What..." she starts, quickly silenced by another bruising kiss as his arm snakes tightly around her waist.

Her body molds deliciously to his and even through his armor he can feel the heat coming off her body. She desperately clings to his waist with one hand and tugs behind his shoulder with the other, pulling her body to his. He hoists her up around his waist and presses her up against the wall.

She remains perched there as he kisses his way from her ear to her exposed collarbone, more skin than usual revealed by the spring dress she chose to wear. He grins at his fortuitousness while sliding a hand up her side to tease at her breast. Her breath hitches and he smiles against her skin before trailing his other hand up her thigh and under her skirt. She whimpers against him, searching out his lips once more, cupping her hands on either side of his face, fixing his mouth to hers as she explores softly with her tongue.

"I don't have the presence of mind to be soft," he mutters nearly to himself. She giggles lightly at his double entendre before loosening his belt. "I need you, _now_." He hikes up her skirt and pulls off her underwear in one swift motion. She scrambles for the buttons on his pants and is rewarded with his hips are nestled against hers, pushing his hardness at the apex of her thighs.

One of his fingers finds her core and pushes in, finding her ready for him. He lines himself up and glides in with one smooth movement. She sharply inhales and then sighs his name as her walls adjust to his size. Then he begins to move. Her fingers dig into his shoulders as he slides a hand along her breast, kneading it to elicit more wonderful sounds from her. Her legs wrap about his waist, pulling him deeper in, causing him to groan deeply, one hand burying into his hair as he nestles his head into the crook of her shoulder.

He drops a hand down between them, finding that sweet little nub and pushing her over the edge. She tightens even more around him, if that was even possible, and pulls him over with her. He covers her mouth with his own to swallow her screams and his grunts as he thrusts to completion. He breaks away for air, reluctant to leave her embrace just yet. The cold air hits their sweaty skin, sending shivers down both their spines.

After a few moments of silence filled with heavy pants as they catch their breath, Asha quietly says in his ear, "Um, Harkness?"

"Alex."

She pulls back to look at his eyes. "What?"

"My name is Alex."

"Was that your name before…?"

"No, that's the name I'm choosing for myself. Alex Harkness."

"Well, Alex, welcome to humanity."

He smiles against her skin once more, liking the sound of that, almost believing her that he is human, or at least human enough to be part of the world. Almost. He still has his doubts.


	10. Betrayal Part 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, Bethesda does. I'm just writing for fun.**

**A/N: Sorry for the super short chapter, I've been having a hell of a time writing this next section and wanted to get at least a little something to you guys while I muddle my way through the rest!**

* * *

><p>Asha wakes wrapped tightly in her new lover's arms, feeling his breath tickle the fine hairs at the back of her neck. She attempts to roll over to face him, but he tightens around her, deeply inhaling the scent of her hair.<p>

"'Morning," Alex rumbles sleepily in her ear, giving her a light kiss on her temple.

She smiles to herself and pushes herself closer towards him, ass rubbing across his groin causing him to groan. He quickly pulls her flat on her back and gives her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are practically _insatiable_?"

"Good thing you have lots of um...stamina," she says cheekily, pulling him more fully atop her., reaching up to kiss him more thoroughly.

He indulges her for a few moments before pushing himself up on his elbows. "I need to get to work, I've probably overslept already." He stops and looks at the wall for a moment before continuing, "Yeah, definitely overslept. I realized I had an internal clock I could activate. Not that it did me any good this morning."

"Mmm, I rather liked oversleeping with you."

He leans down to kiss her again. "I'll see you tonight, after my shift, okay?"

"Yeah. You gonna be okay? I know that this is all a lot to process."

He sighs heavily. "Yeah, yeah I will. I think I'll hole up in my office for a while today, try to let it all sink in. I mean, I had the memories before so they aren't really that strange... it because I have _two_ sets of memories that I need time."

She nods and gives him a little peck on the lips. "I'll see you tonight."

* * *

><p>The next week passes by smoothly. Harkness settles into his new skin and his new relationship much quicker than Asha would have expected. Asha herself regains most of her lost confidence and feels ready to face the world again. She knows she can't avoid her duty to the Wastes and the Brotherhood any longer. After a day-trip to the Citadel, she returns to Rivet City to say goodbye before her mission to Vault 87 to locate the GECK.<p>

She pushes open the door to Harkness' room and starts to explain her upcoming trip when she stumbles to a stop at the harsh look on his face. He near violently tosses a clipboard and a stack of holotapes down onto his bed, the tapes skittering across and onto the floor.

"What's this?" he hisses.

Asha glances down and recognizes her observational notes about Harkness that she's taken since she learned of his identity. She looked for any outward signs of him having a synthetic body or programming done by a man. Patterns, abnormalities in emotional responses, physical reactions to...outside influences, and the like. Things purely for her own personal reference.

"_Shit."_

"Shit is right. I actually believed you when you said you wouldn't turn me over, but now I come to find out you just did that so you could keep gathering information on me. Who are you working for?"

"What?"

He grabs her wrist and puts his hand on his gun. "I said _who are you working for_? Who are you selling this information to? They'll come looking for me eventually."

"Nobody, Harkness!" _Leave it to the security chief to be suspicious as hell._

"So what, you just sketch diagrams of _the android_ for fun?"

"My father was a doctor, I have an interest in these things."

"Oh, so you want to take me apart, is that it?"

"No, I would never do that…I couldn't even, I don't know enough about robotics…"

"Oh, so I'm just _a robot_? Who did you contact in the Commonwealth to come take me back?"

"What? Alex, no—I didn't! I would never do that!"

"Is that why you have this bounty notice from the Talon Company?" he produces another sheet of paper, crumpled in his hand but Asha distinctly recognizes it as the note she pulled off the body of the Talon she found. "Are you planning on paying off your own bounty by turning me in?"

"No! I was going to warn you! I was trying to figure out who found out your secret and sold you out!"

"And just studying me in the meantime? Is this why you've been getting close to me? Just to _study_ me? Find my weaknesses? What were you going to do, deactivate me _in my sleep_?" He tosses her against the wall, knocking the air out of her lungs. "Get off this boat before I _throw you off_. I never want to see you again."

She stares at him wildly, not believing her ears. He pulls his gun out of its holster and her heart jumps. "Okay, okay. I'm leaving. Just know that I would _never_ hurt you, Hark. I care about you."

"Well that makes _one_ of us. I'm just a _robot_, remember? I don't have _feelings_."

"That's not true," she whispers. "You don't have to worry about seeing me again, there is nothing left for me here," she mutters as she slips out of the room with her belongings, leaving the clipboard on the bed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh Harkness, being an idiot again. Don't worry, he's just about through his stupidity!**


	11. Betrayal Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, Bethesda does. I'm just writing for fun.**

**A/N: I made a bit of a change to the last chapter, added a couple lines of dialogue that I meant to include in the first place, but it didn't make it from my notes to the actual writing (till now).**

**Thanks again to my reviewers and those who have favorited/alerted! It means so much to me!**

* * *

><p>"Stop, A3-21, you don't want to do this!" the android, with the appearance of a young woman with long dark hair, holds her hands up as she slowly approaches the Hunter. "We just want to be free! We all <em>deserve<em> to be free, including you! Please, we won't hurt the Commonwealth, we just want to be the people we were born to be."

"Born?" he scoffs. "You were _made_, and you're just running away from your _destiny_. You were designed to _serve_. Property does not deserve freedom. Come back where you belong."

"Please, listen to me! You can come with us! You can…"

He's heard enough of her lies and his finger depresses the trigger on his plasma rifle. Her voice suddenly dies off with a whine as her body falls heavily to the dirt. The plasma discharge has melted a cavity in her chest, exposing wires and components underneath the curling, blistering skin.

He gets down on one knee, pressing two fingers gently to her chin to turn her face towards him. The hair falls from her visage and he falls back in shock. She bears the face of Asha.

Once again, Harkness wakes up in his quarters, alone.

* * *

><p>She left yesterday, just like he ordered. He tosses and turns in his bed, unable to shake the memory of her touch. He lumps up a pillow to curl over, trying to fill the empty spot in his bed. Doesn't work.<p>

_It's not real, I don't __**have**__ feelings; it's just a programmed illusion. I told you, you can't trust women. She was just after information, not you. She doesn't __**care**__ about you. Just like your ex-wife. No, I don't __**have**__ an ex-wife, that was fake too. My entire life is fake. Fuck!_ "Fuck!" he repeats outloud, thrashing himself against his mattress. "Screw this, I need to do something."

He jumps out of bed and grabs a weapon, hoping to find some asshole on the ship that he can beat up for being an idiot. When that doesn't work, he ventures off-ship, looking for mirelurks, mutants, something, anything to beat up.

In the dark of the night he comes across three Talon Company mercs, slithering up through Anacostia Crossing. He's on alert, but they approach him cordially.

"You coming from Rivet City?" the leader says slowly.

"What of it?"

"We're looking for a young woman…of interest. Perhaps you've seen her. Fair skin, red hair, goes by _Asha_."

He shouldn't be surprised that they're still looking for her. After all, they are well-paid to be thorough and ruthless. "She's gone."

"Any idea where?"

"What makes you think I care?" Harkness bites out.

"I didn't ask if you _cared_, mister...what did you say your name was?"

"I didn't," he replies harshly.

"Hmph, well we were told she's been spending a lot of time down this way. Something about a new boyfriend. You _sure _you don't know anything about that?" The Talon leader squints at Harkness. Harkness tries not to let the fear show in his eyes, even with this dim light as it's almost like Talon Company can _smell_ fear. "You know, you sure do look familiar," the man continues. "Almost like, well almost like that Rivet City security chief, yeah."

Harkness instinctively takes a step back.

"One of your little friends sold you out, buddy. Commonwealth is paying pretty well to bring back their pet android. I'm thinking we might get paid better if we bring you back _alive_."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? How much did she get for the information? Not enough to clear her bounty, apparently."

"What? Who?"

"_Asha,_ you dumbass. _Did that bitch sell me out?" _he clips.

"Who, Asha? Nah, that girl's a _saint_, it was one of your security officers. You really should encrypt your computer files better. That worm told us we'd get a two-for-one deal, that you were practically _glued _to Asha's side. No matter, we'll find her. Tenpenny wants her head on a fucking _plate_, and I'm going to give it to him; but he didn't say anything about the _rest_ of her body."

"I thought you were just paid to _kill_."

"We get our bonuses in other ways. Given how many of our brothers she's taken down, we're looking forward to putting her in her place, eh boys?" the other Talon members behind him chuckle darkly.

Harkness feels sick to his stomach. Well, the polymer casing that serves as his stomach, anyway. _Do I even need to eat?_ He shakes his head at the inconvenient timing of his thoughts. _She didn't sell you out, you idiot. She really __**does**__ care for you. Get over yourself and do what's right._

"To get to her you'll have to get through me first. And even if you _did _get through me, I'm sure she'd cut your dick off before you can take her."

The leader ceases chuckling and scowls at Harkness. "I changed my mind, I'm going to enjoy deactivating you."

"You can certainly try." Harkness flexes his fingers in preparation for a fight, foregoing his gun for the time being.

The first tries to grab him from behind but receives a swift elbow to the nose, sending shards of bone into his brain, killing him near instantly. As he slumps to the floor, the leader gapes at Harkness.

"You forget, my android body is far stronger and faster than your weak muscles ever could be," he grins as he sidesteps a punch from the other goon, grabbing his flailing arm and pulling his head under his other arm, giving it a solid wrench, breaking his neck.

The Talon Company leader aims his laser rifle and hits a couple of times on the android body, not doing any particular damage. Harkness just laughs deeply. "I'd say you'd live to regret taking this fight to me, but you won't really be alive much longer.," he says, just before drawing his gun and planting three bullets right into his head.

The high he feels from the successful fight is quickly quelled by an overwhelming feeling of guilt for pushing Asha away once again when she was perfectly innocent. _Okay, maybe keeping details on my body wasn't the smartest idea, but she didn't mean any harm by it. Shit, what have I done? I have to find her._

He quickly exits Anacostia Crossing, making a dash for the City to grab enough gear to make a trip to the Citadel. He needs to find her before it's too late to turn this around. _If it's not already too late._

Back in the barracks he runs into his second-in-command.

"I'm heading out for a few days. Danvers, you're in charge," he briefly explains while grabbing his supplies.

"Are you heading after her, Sir?"

"What?"

"I heard you and One-oh-One had a falling out. Are you going to find her?"

"Fuck, does _everyone_ know about us?"

Danvers only shrugs in response. "Don't worry sir, I'll look after the city while you're gone."

* * *

><p>They won't give him a straight answer at the Citadel, merely that she has left on a mission of high importance. He figures he should try her house in Megaton next, as she might have stopped there to resupply before heading out on her mission. Luck is not on his side however, as she's already come and gone from the shack she calls home.<p>

"I'm sorry sir, but my mistress has already gone," explains her robotic butler, Wadsworth.

"Do you have any idea where she's gone?"

"I believe she said she is going to Vault 87 to retrieve the GECK, sir. I do not know when she will be returning."

"Do you know where this vault is?"

"I'm sorry I don't have that information, sir. Would you like me to tell her you came by when she returns?"

"No, I should see her myself."

* * *

><p>Several days go by, and no news of Asha drift down to Harkness in Rivet City, where he returned after his brief sojourn to the Citadel and Megaton. Eventually Three Dog mentions something about an explosion on the opposite end of the Wasteland and the Enclave radio station abruptly goes off the air. Harkness can't help but think it's somehow related to Asha, as most important happenings in the Capital Wasteland seem to be nowadays.<p>

A couple of days later he hears whispers in the Marketplace that the Lone Wanderer was spotted nearby, reportedly scoping out the Enclave base at the Jefferson Memorial. Harkness tries to keep his heart in his chest as he rushes out to the gate bridge, anxiously waiting for it to swing across so he can go landside.

From his vantage point at the top of the stairs, Asha's red hair stands out like a beacon in the sunlight. His heart pounds in his ears as he tries to compile something coherent to say when he finally faces her. She cuts him off before he gets the chance.

"Don't worry, I'm not coming into your city, I'm just trading with Crazy Wolfgang," she clips when she spies Harkness descending the ramp.

"Asha, no, I…" At a look from him, Crazy Wolfgang wanders off, muttering something about tending to his brahmin. "What-what happened to you?" he instinctively tries to reach out and gently touch the garish bruise on her face but she flinches away.

"The Enclave got me. Tortured me for information."

"But they let you go?"

She scoffs. "No, I blew up their whole damn base. Blew up their damn president too." She pauses for a moment before continuing, "We-we're taking the Purifier tomorrow, the Brotherhood and I. I'm sure the Enclave is going to put up a royal fight. In case I...well, take care of yourself," she adds quietly, starting to turn away from him.

He quickly reaches out and lightly catches her arm, turning him back towards him.

"I need to apologize."

"For what, distrusting me again or just generally being an ass?" Her defenses have gone back up, hands flying to her hips. He notices how her stance really emphasizes her slender waist. _Really not the time to be thinking about that, Alex._

"Both, I suppose. I know, I've really fucked things up with you. You've been nothing but kind and caring and I…just keep throwing it back in your face. I've just never met someone like you, Asha, someone that puts others above herself. I kept thinking that the minute I'd let my guard down, you'd stab me in the back. It was wrong to think that way, and I'm sorry. I really do care about you, Asha, I would just sometimes get blinded by fear and… I know that's really no excuse, but I…was really hoping that we could…try again."

"How many times am I supposed to let you kick me around before you decide it's enough? I can't keep putting myself out there just to get hurt by you." She takes a long look at him before heaving a sigh. "I had really hoped, I had; but it's just too little, too late, Alex." She takes one last look with a sad expression in her eyes before she turns away, hurriedly scrubbing at her eyes to hide the tears pooling there. "Goodbye, Hark."

That night Harkness discovers that his android body produces tears.


	12. A Promise Fulfilled

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, Bethesda does. I'm just writing for fun.**

* * *

><p>Asha spends the night before the assault on the Purifier holed up in the Citadel with the rest of Lyon's Pride, readying for the fight daybreak will bring. No one discusses their duty, they merely keep each other in companionable silence until each one becomes tired enough to attempt sleep. Sleep does not come easily that night for Asha.<p>

Sleep does not come easily for Harkness either. His gut feeling is to go wait outside the Citadel and partake in their assault of the Purifier. The logical side of him says his duty is to the City and its inhabitants. Out there he would be just another soldier, in here...in here he has a chance to really save lives in case the Enclave come knocking. But that does nothing to assuage his fear for Asha's life.

* * *

><p>The fight is bloody and gruesome, with Lyon's Pride easily tearing through the ranks of the Enclave with the aid of Liberty Prime, the oversized, mini-nuke chucking robot. Asha keeps her distance from the automoton, but still at the head of their elite team, shoulder to shoulder with Sarah.<p>

Falling into a crouch to shield herself from the flying shrapnel sent by the vertibird just destroyed by Liberty Prime and a mini-nuke, she forces herself to fight back the fear (one again) and keep focused on her goal. She slowly stands and lets out a shaky breath, noticing that no Enclave soldiers are left in the vicinity.

Sarah runs up next to her, gently tugging on her elbow, "Come on, let's get inside. The rest of Lyon's Pride will secure this area."

Asha feels a bit dazed as she pushes open the door to the gift shop, almost like her head is disconnected from her body. A blast from a laser rifle close to her brings her back to reality and she quickly takes aim. The Enclave officer didn't even had a chance. They clear out the rest of the room and approach the door to the control room.

Asha hesitates, fingers grazing the doorknob. "This is where my dad died," she says quietly.

Sarah looks to the ground reverently. "Then let's make his sacrifice worth something."

Asha looks over at her friend and nods briefly before pushing the door open.

Colonel Autumn awaits them, and he instantly recognizes the Lone Wanderer, causing him to cackle with delight.

"Stand down, Colonel Autumn."

"I don't think so. Say hello to your father in heaven for me."

Asha grits her teeth and quickly takes aim with her combat shotgun. "I'll be sure to look down on you in Hell, you bastard." She shoots once, nicking his leg as he pulls his special laser pistol.

Sarah distracts the Enclave soldiers in the room, taking them down swiftly with her own gun, although she did resort to punching the last one in the face first. She glances over to see Asha locked in close combat with the asshole who started this.

"How did you even fucking survive the destruction of your precious base?" Asha hisses out as Autumn hooks an arm around her, trying to immobilize her so he shoot her in the temple.

"How did _you_ survive, you precocious _bitch_? Although I should thank you for killing our president, leaves the way open for me to take charge, once I'm done with you and your little friend here."

Asha quickly jabs him in the nose with her elbow and gives a swift backwards kick to his groin. She turns around after he drops his hold on her and knees him in the face, pushing him on his back on the stairs. She jumps on him, one knee pressing heavily on his chest as she leans in close.

"I don't think you'll live that long, _Colonel_." She grabs his own pistol from where he dropped it on the stair and shoots him through the forehead. A few times, for good measure. Oh, and twice in the chest as well. Satisfied that he is truly dead, she climbs past him towards the radiation shielded glass separating her from the control panel.

The bitch...err, Dr. Li's voice comes over the intercom. One of them needs to take a one-way trip to the control panel.

"This isn't how I imagined going out," Sarah mutters with a slight grimace on her face.

"You're not, because I'm going in. I started this, I'm going to end it," Asha counters.

"It's going to kill you!"

"The only thing I have to live for anymore is saving the Wasteland. I need to honor my father's memory."

Sarah sighs resignedly. She doesn't want her friend to die, but _honestly_ she doesn't want to die either. And Asha is pretty insistent. "I'm not leaving you. You shouldn't...do this alone."

Asha gives a grateful nod to the blonde before hitting the button to open the radiation shielded glass, darting through before Sarah can be exposed too much. Sarah buttons up the door after her, moving afterward to keep a safe distance from the glass.

Asha quickly injects Rad-Away before stepping up to the control panel. She can already feel the heat rising in her body from the radiation, the slight tingle in her extremities. She quickly enters the code, 216, and the Purifier starts up. The radiation dose spikes as the water drains out from the center, revealing the statue of Jefferson.

Asha falls to her knees in pain and radiation-induced exhaustion, fumbling to inject herself with more Rad-Away before slumping over to the floor.

Sarah anxiously watches the radiation meter standing in the control room. After the radiation spike, the dose rate gradually decreases. Eventually Sarah feels it's safe enough, shooting Rad-X into her arm before opening the door up. Instantly she feels the heat of the radiation, but she bears through and pulls Asha's lifeless body out and down the stairs. She closes the radiation shield and makes it to the doorway to the gift shop before she too collapses. She weakly takes Asha's hand in her own and waits for death.


	13. Redemption

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, Bethesda does. I'm just writing for fun.**

**A/N: A big thanks once again to my reviewers, readers, and alerters! I'm so glad y'all are enjoying the story! We're drawing up to a close soon :( but I have other projects starting soon (but without our favorite android).**

* * *

><p>Harkness taps his foot impatiently in front of the gate into the Citadel. The Brotherhood soldier merely stares him down, trying to force him away by the power of his look alone. Harkness blatantly ignores him, awaiting his response.<p>

Finally Elder Lyons' voice comes over the intercom, crackly from the aged technology. "Go ahead and let the gentleman in; we do have business to discuss."

The Brotherhood soldier glares at the Security Chief one last time before grudgingly letting him pass through the now-open gate.

Harkness knows they are keeping her here, but he has to fight his instinct to find her as soon as he enters. He first needs to make a show of good-faith and meet with Lyons to discuss guarding the water caravans. As he passes the seemingly endless rooms filling the corridors of the pentagonal building, he quickly checks for any sign of the woman he...cares for...deeply. He thinks he grabs a glimpse of the closed door leading to the infirmary, but his escort swiftly shuttles him along towards the commander of this chapter of the Brotherhood.

* * *

><p>The meeting passes quickly, arrangements made for Rivet City security escorting the water caravans to take the load off the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood will continue to control and distribute the water to the caravans (they won't relinquish <em>that<em> kind of power anytime soon), but it's not like Rivet City has the manpower to do that, anyway. Harkness is reasonably pleased with the results of the meeting, but his primary thoughts were all of Asha.

His escort was making a beeline for the main gate of the Citadel immediately following, but Harkness was determined. He grabs her elbow, making her swiftly turn and take a defensive stance.

"Don't do that!" she loudly hisses at him, causing others in the hallway to stop to stare at them.

"Sorry. You were just going to fast...I need to make a request. I want to see Asha."

"Who?"

Harkness sighs exasperatedly. "The Lone Wanderer? Woman from Vault 101? You know, the one who saved the whole Purifier project and did a strong blow to the Enclave single-handedly?"

The soldier rolls her eyes. "Yes, I get it. She's this way, but...I'm not sure you're going to like what you see."

"Just take me to her."

* * *

><p>Harkness kneels in front of Asha's body, crumpled in disbelief.<p>

"I'll leave you alone with your grief," the Brotherhood soldier says sympathetically in a soft tone before stepping out of the room, leaving him in silence in an empty room.

He slowly reaches out, taking her cold hand in his own. The tears start to pool up, but he ignores them as they stream down his face.

Sarah had woken up after being in a brief radiation-induced coma and filled him in on the final moments of Asha's life. Lyons' Pride entered the building after securing the outside and found the two women at the entrance to the control room. Paladin Vargas scooped up Sarah's unconscious body while Knight-Captain Kodiak took Asha. They returned to the Citadel as quickly as possible in order to get Sarah necessary medical attention. Asha had passed before Lyons' Pride even arrived.

Kodiak kept up a vigil over Asha's body until shortly before Harkness arrived. They hadn't yet buried her, instead debating on the most honorable place to return her to the Earth.

Now Harkness keeps his own vigil until the funeral. "I'm sorry I was too late. I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you. I was a fool and you died not knowing how I truly feel about you. You made my life better, Asha. I hoped that somehow you could have forgiven me with time, and now... I will miss you, Asha, and I will remember you forever." He bows his head to her hand and holds his wails of grief inside.

A touch on his shoulder takes his attention, but he turns and there is no-one there. Suddenly he wakes in the infirmary, not-so-alone.

Sarah has come by, gently waking him by placing her hand lightly on his shoulder and murmuring his name. He looks up at her with cloudy eyes, trying to escape the memory of his dream.

"I thought you should know that she's begun to respond to stimuli. The doctor thinks she will wake soon."

Harkness' mind instantly clears and his eyes jump to Asha, resting peacefully in a coma on a cot. Elder Lyons' stands over her, expectantly waiting her return to the conscious world. Harkness stands carefully on shaky knees, but keeps his distance, almost afraid of the scene before him.

He forgets to breathe as he watches her eyes slowly flutter open, staring blankly at the ceiling as her fingers twitch. Her brow furrows as she slowly turns her head to the look at the Elder, who begins to speak in quiet tones.

Harkness doesn't pay attention to the conversation playing out before him, instead carefully watching Asha with bated breath and trembling hands. He itches to rush to her, take her hands in his own, and pour out his heart to her. But he must wait his turn.

Elder Lyons finishes speaking with the young redhead and Sarah steps up to quietly give her friend a hug and brief words of relief. Asha weakly smiles and nods before giving a response.

Sarah steps out of the room and Asha's gaze slowly turns to Harkness, who stands in numb surprise across the room. "You can come over here, I won't bite." A small smile flickers across Harkness' face before he finally convinces his legs to move towards her. "Help me sit up?" she questions him, holding out her hands for him to take.

He quickly reaches out and takes her warm hands in his own, carefully helping her into a sitting position on the edge of the cot. "How," he near whispers hoarsely before clearing his throat, "how do you feel? Sarah told me about what happened."

She chuckles lightly. "I feel like I was thrown out of a Vertibird. While it was flying. I probably have the bruises to prove it."

"The doctor assured me that you will fully heal with time, you just need to take it easy for now."

"Taking it easy sounds like a nice change of pace after the hell I've been through lately."

There is a small silence as they both realize his hands are still clasped around hers. Taking a leap, he slowly brings one of his hands to his lips, placing a light kiss to her knuckles. Her eyes watch him expectantly, waiting for him to say what he really came here for.

"I'm sorry, Asha. I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you."

She gives a small laugh at that. "Your place was in Rivet City. We had no idea whether the Enclave would enlarge their area of attack. Your duty was to those innocent civilians. Leave the war to the soldiers."

"You're not a soldier, Asha. You're a woman with a big heart."

"Well, I think I technically am now. Sarah made me a member of Lyons' Pride before the attack. Gave me dogtags and everything."

"I hope they don't plan on using you like the other members."

"No, she assured me that I'm still autonomous and can help when I feel like it. Which is good, I don't want to see action for a long time."

"You've done more than anyone could have asked for. You are truly an amazing woman." He gives a long pause as he stares down at their still-joined hands. He gives them a slight squeeze before confessing, "I've been a fool, Asha. A giant, pig-headed, suspicious fool. Can you ever forgive me?" he asks, staring deep into her eyes.

"When you face death; I mean, _really _face _death_… when you know you _should_ have died but…somehow…by the grace of God you…cheat destiny…it has a way of changing your outlook. Made me realize things."

There is a heavy pause before Harkness breaks the silence. "What did you realize?" he asks in a near whisper.

"Alex I-I forgive you…because I love you."

His heart leaps at her confession but she maintains a distant look in her eyes, gazing off at nothingness to the side.

"Life is…too short to hold onto hurt. You never get as much time as you need." She looks back at him with a wistful look in her eyes. "I never knew my mum; I lost my dad just after finding him again. I'm tired of losing people." She pauses again, boring into his soul with her peridot eyes. "How do I know you won't hurt me again? How do I know I won't lose you?" she whispers, fingers clenching around his.

"My promise is all I can give; all one person can give another. I _promise_ I will never leave you; I will _never_ push you away again. Asha, I love you, I love you with all my biomechanical heart and all my synthetic soul. I want you at my side, for now, and always."

Tears run tracks down her cheeks now, leaving glistening trails begging to be gently wiped away. Harkness obliges them and traces his fingers tenderly across her face, causing her to smile through the tears. He slowly stands up and leans towards her, bracing one hand on the cot as he brings his face close to hers. She stares at him with doe eyes as gently presses his lips to hers.

Asha hesitantly slides a hand across his cheek and into his hair, pressing her lips more fervently to his. "I love you, Alex," she whispers, leaning her forehead against his.

"I've loved you for a long time, Asha, I was just too much of an idiot to admit it."

She smiles before kissing him again. "I forgive you."


	14. An Ending and a Beginning

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, Bethesda does. I'm just writing for fun.**

**A/N: A big thanks once again to my readers! Sorry it took so long to get this last chapter up. With this we come to the close of our story.**

* * *

><p>Elder Lyons walks in as Harkness is gingerly sliding his hands up Asha's thighs below her medical dressing gown as she pulls him in tighter for a kiss. He awkwardly clears his throat and they jump apart in surprise.<p>

"When I told you to get some rest before returning to work, this isn't exactly what I had in mind."

Asha flushes an interesting shade of pink.

"But if you're feeling that well..." Lyons starts.

"No, she needs her rest. I'm taking her home," Harkness interjects.

"Are you certain? You could always rest here."

Asha blinks back and forth between the two men squaring off with each other. "No, I'd feel much more comfortable in my own bed, thanks. I'll come back soon when I feel up to getting back into the fray."

"Understood. Take care, Paladin." With a curt nod Lyons swiftly makes his exit.

* * *

><p>Harkness' eyes fall open wide at the side of the large heart-shaped bed in the middle of the living room in this two-story Megaton shack. Then his eyes drift upwards to the lit wire-frame sculpture of two women...doing their thing.<p>

Asha looks at him a bit guiltily before hurriedly explaining, "It's the only two-person bed Moira had! All I have is that miserable little worn-out mattress upstairs. I wasn't aware this arrangement came with...art," she gives a furtive glance at the lit women hanging from the ceiling. "I'll talk to Moira, clean it up a bit... and we can look for another bed. You know, a normal one."

Harkness chuckles as he pulls her against him. "I don't know, making love to you on a bed of red velvet with your over-attentive robot watching us could be interesting."

Asha's eyes flash to Wadsworth hovering at the top of the stairs. "Hello, Mistress!"

"Wadsworth! Go...walk Dogmeat...or something. Don't come back til I unlock the door!" she screeches in embarrassment. Dogmeat whines as Wadsworth escorts him out the front door, kindly opened by Harkness, who shuts and locks it with a definite twist of the bolt.

He turns back to Asha with a mischievous smile. "Now, where were we?" he asks as he crosses the room towards her. "Oh, right, I was going to do something like scoop you into my arms, tell you how much I love you, and then seduce my way into your bed." He gives a crooked grin as he pulls her flush against him, mere layers of clothing separating them.

"I think you'll need to do more than smile at me to seduce me," she teases.

"I don't know, seemed to work pretty well the first time."

"As I recall, you didn't do any seducing...merely got me drunk."

"Alright, I need a little practice. Which I intend to get..." He dips his head down to capture her lips with his. She melts into his arms, enjoying the newfound security of their relationship. Her hands slide up his chest and up into his hair, keeping him close as his hands nimbly search out the buttons on her clothes.

He pulls back to look her eyes as he's about to slip her jacket off. "I love you, Asha. You never need to doubt that. I will be at your side for as long as you'll have me."

She closes her eyes and sighs in contentment. "Never leave, Alex of mine." Her eyes flash open to his, piercing them with green windows to her soul. "I love you with all my heart." She reaches up to kiss him again, pulling him back with her towards the bed.

* * *

><p>It is said decades later that the never-aging man buried his once companion, lover, and wife in a grove of trees surrounding the Jefferson Memorial alongside two markers memorializing her parents, the progenitors of pure water for the Wastes. He disappeared from the Wasteland just after the Lone Wanderer's death, vanishing to the west. He left the legacy of their (adopted) children, who strove to further their mother's work of repairing the Capital Wasteland and surrounding areas.<p>

While the Lone Wanderer's name may have been forgotten except by those who visit her grave, her deeds and memory live on in every healthy animal, child, and plant that grows in the ruins of Washington D.C. And somewhere out there, perhaps, a man still lives who knew her better than any other, a man who will never forget and never stop loving her.


End file.
